We all used to the idea that marketing is inherently an expensive venture that eats up both time and resources. This is especially true for small businesses, which aren’t always aware how they can compete in the big league. We’ve covered in some of our previous articles methods that can allow your company to improve email marketing, internal processes, engage with customers through video and how to go multi-channel.
Undoubtedly, these are all effective methods in their own ways, but no one has invented a better form of marketing than simply having a satisfied customer. Your loyal audience can market your brand through word of mouth and have more impact than your logo on a Madison Avenue.
Brand ambassadors are clients who are in love with your product or service and they tell everyone about their experience and consequently promote your brand. But the customer satisfaction doesn’t just turn into brand ambassador overnight. It’s a gradual process that requires input from you, first.
4 Steps towards Making a Transition from Customer to Brand Ambassador
While you obviously cannot establish a one-on-one communication with every single customer, you can enforce certain strategies that will move your customer base as a whole towards the desired result. Then it’s all about prioritizing which customers are most likely to make the final transition and which will be most impactful in spreading the word about you.
Simple personalization techniques can go a long way when it comes to warming up your audience. However, in this particular instance, it is not enough. Here is how you can get started.
1. Continuous & evolving communication
Every sort of relationship needs to be moved forward and progressed over time. Otherwise it becomes stagnant and it hurts people involved in it, ask any couple counselor. Sales, customer service and communications are no different. If both parties stay the same, pretty soon there is nothing left except “business as usual”. Or worse, if a client is willing to move forward and your company misses the cue. Now, that’s is a recipe for disaster.
You should keep the communication lines open at all times and engage with a client frequently. Make sure that they are fully aware of what your business is up to and how they can benefit from it. When an audience sees information about your business – you’ll be at the top of their mind, when it really counts and you will not lose potential brand ambassador to your business.
2. Improve your customer experience strategy through rewards
Pretty simple, you give something and you receive something in return. Rewarding your loyal customers or any customer for that matter will have a tremendous effect! What was the last time your sales rep sent you a gift-card with, let’s say, a golf ball with a client’s logo on it? Doesn’t happen that often, does it?
Most people ignore it for two reasons. First, you don’t want to send cheap and uncaring gifts, because those are the worst. Second, making a custom gift was always a tough and time-consuming job. Luckily, that’s a thing where technology can come in handy.
Take Rocket Notes application, for example, your sales reps or customer experience managers can integrate the app with Salesforce CRM platform. Rocket Notes is a simple application that allows you to create custom gifts (like named mug or golf ball) and cards in just a few clicks. Then it takes client’s address details and sends it out the next day, without you ever needing to bother too much. Such software can be very easily used for both new and existing customers. Now, that’s an effective way to convert your loyal customers into brand ambassador, after all, everyone likes to receive gifts.
3. Dealing with complaints the right way
As much as we like receiving gifts, most of us hate calling customer service, when something breaks. Any company has to learn how to deal with unhappy clients and by looks of it only very few actually succeed in it. Onese that do can really leverage their success and rely on brand ambassadors.
Showing you care about the client’s problems and frustration is important. Although these conversations can be very difficult at times, they allow you to defend and redeem yourself in their eyes. Every talk with an unhappy client should be treated as an opportunity for growth. Using Salesforce for customer service is another great way how you can streamline the core process and improve it over time.
Advanced CRM platform like Salesforce allows you to insights inform your entire business. And vice versa in a manner of seconds. You can pull client’s history, the log of similar issues and deliver the right answer in time. This will help you improve customer experience and convert clients into true brand ambassadors in time efficient manner.
4. Make it worth their while
No matter how enthusiastic your clients are about your brand, ultimately, there has to be something for them to make supporting your business worth their while. Sometimes a simple thank you note will do sometimes a personalized video message or an invitation to an event you host.
Any strategy should have an endgame. We all want to make an impact, so make sure that your customers feel like they are. Collect insights from social media engagements and turn them into personalized content. If it’s an unhappy client – tell them that an issue was fixed and that you are thankful that they’ve noticed it and helped you improve. These small things are what will turn them into brand ambassadors.
All-in-One Technological Solution to Help You
If you want to start making changes, improve your relationships with clients and take first steps towards establishing a true brand ambassador-base for your company, then you’ll need an effective software solution to maintain and upkeep the transformation. Here at OMI, you’ll find first-class Salesforce implementation services by a team of industry veterans. We help our clients to achieve the best customer service through Salesforce technology.
With our two-decade expertise at your side, you’ll have a stellar sales, marketing and customer experience technology stack that will not only allow for facilitation of existing processes but also will help you create brand new ways of engaging with clients and winning their trust.